Play It Safe
by Freakers
Summary: Two years have passed since Degrassi Class of 2013 left to pursue the rest of their lives. For Bianca DeSousa – Torres now – the rest of her life hasn't been looking too well. But when an anonymous inheritance and a ticket out are handed to her, she's given a second chance at a future she hasn't even dared to dream of. But things aren't so simple, as she soon finds out.
1. The Beginning

**Apparently, my first shot at ever writing a Fic. Criticism is appreciated, most preferably in a review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or the characters, just the ones I made up. **

**Yes, this will be a Kianca/Batie-based story. I hope to update weekly, and have a few future chapters set up already.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

I took a deep breath as I stood outside of the door to my own house. I was afraid, but I couldn't keep quiet any longer. I couldn't keep pretending like nothing had happened; that he had never betrayed me. That would just make me a coward.

With shaky hands, I took hold of the doorknob and twisted. Today was the day. The day that everything would change.

"I can't deal with this anymore, Drew." The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. I closed the door and stood in front of it, preventing him from a possible quick getaway.

There he was, his feet up on the table and his hands clasped behind his head. I could still see the wedding band poking out from his intertwined fingers, drawing my gaze away from the man that I'd come to live for. The man that had asked for my hand in marriage, despite all of my faults and mistakes. The man that had betrayed me.

His gaze shifted from a late-night show of _Jeopardy_ to me, looking somewhat annoyed but expectant nonetheless. His brows raised in question after a beat of silence, a sign that he wasn't going to say anything until I elaborated. I crossed my arms in response, a sign that _I _wasn't going to say anything until he got up off of his ass and attempted to do _something_. _Anything._

He didn't. He just sat there, staring at me with that same raised brow, that same annoyed look on his face. I shifted my weight and stared right back, and we fell into a sort of silent staring contest while I mulled over the last week. The last week of finding out exactly what Drew did the month before we got married. What he's been doing recently, behind my back.

He cheated on me. He did it then, and he's doing it now.

I could visualize the text messages in my mind: w_hen are you going to call me back? When are you coming over? We should have another night like that. Come on Drew, you know you want it. You shouldn't be so tied down, baby. You need someone who understands you._

It wasn't like I was unaware of Drew's problems with commitment. I_ was_ one of those problems when it came to him dating other girls back in high school. All I had to do was act interested in him, and he did the rest. It wasn't until recently that I realized how easy it was for a girl to get his attention. It wasn't until recently that I realized how naïve I had been in thinking that he would change for me, even though I'd gone through so much to change for him.

But maybe it was better that I met him, even though it led us to that end. Because even though it hurt, even though I wished we could rewind back to high school, I had changed _so much_ from the beginning. I had improved_ so much_ for him, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I got more out of the relationship than he did. And that was a good thing, because he didn't deserve _anything _for cheating on me.

_You sound like a fucking hypocrite,_ I thought to myself as I moved to turn off the television just as he broke eye contact. _It's funny that you think it's so unfair, B. You brought him to the same conclusion with his other relationships that his slutstress did to yours._ I clenched my jaw at the thought just as _Jeopardy_ disappeared from the screen.

"Hey," he cried indignantly, finally pulling his arms out from behind his head to wave them in exasperation. Finally, he rid himself of the relaxed posture that was in no way appropriate for what was about to happen. I tried to contain the urge to scream at the top of my lungs and tell him how much I hated him. It wouldn't be true. I couldn't hate him, not even after he went behind my back and slept with some girl he met at _our_ engagement party. Some girl that I had actually come to _like_ hanging around. Figures, the one time I become good friends with a chick, she had the one I loved in her manicured grasp. I felt like I was hating on a younger, wilder version of me – it _was_ me, back when I was Boiler Room Bianca. Maybe it was some sort of payback for what I did when I was like that. Maybe I got what I deserved for what I did back in high school. What goes around comes around, and all that.

"What's your problem, B?" he said as he leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. He was hunched over, looking at me from under his eyelashes like he always did when he knew I was pissed at him. Did he even realize that I knew? Did he not think I would find out? Did he not fucking care?

"I read the texts. I know what you did," I said in a voice that sounded way more confident than I felt. I was still holding on to this stupidly childish idea that _maybe he didn't really do it; maybe it was just some stupid misunderstanding._

That little thread of hope caught fire the second he grasped what I said. His face dropped and lost its innocence, replaced by guilt that I knew he hated showing. But he _loved_ to downplay it.

"It was before we were married, B."

That lit me the fuck up. It only took two seconds before I had taken one long stride forward, my fist connecting with his jawline. His arms slipped off of his knees and his entire head looked like it'd spin a full three-sixty, but stopped short and turned back to face me. I could see his jaw tighten as he lifted himself from the couch and put his hands up in surrender.

I knew it was a lie. Why else would she be texting him last week? I fought back a sob, wondering how long this had been going on behind my back. I couldn't break down in front of him, and I didn't want to break down in the first place. Even if he had been cheating the entire time, it wasn't worth shedding tears for. He wasn't worth it.

"I _swear_, Bianca. I made a huge mistake. I did. If I could go back in time, I'd take it back, but ––"

"But _what,_ Drew? _What," _I screamed at the top of my lungs, pushing him back down onto the couch. I didn't know if I was being ridiculous or not. At that point, I didn't really give a fuck. "Marriage is supposed to be a promise to drop all of that. It's supposed to be about _commitment_ and _love! _You founded our marriage on a fucking _affair_. You founded it on a_ lie_."

I saw his face twitch, and it wasn't long before he broke, too. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, B? You know _so_ much about _commitment."_ That killed me then. My chest felt like it was going to implode at any moment. I'd done so much to be committed to him, to being _good_, and the past was all he saw. Why did he turn it around on me? Why did he use my past against me?

"I'll always be Boiler Room Bianca to you, won't I?" I asked in a voice barely above a whisper. It was true. No matter how much he said he loved me, no matter how much I changed for him, he'd always see me for who I was. Just like everyone else.

That wasn't any way to live.

"I'm done taking judgments. _Done._ From you; from everyone._"_

I stormed out of the living room and into our bedroom, locking the door just as he moved to follow. I couldn't deal with him anymore. I didn't want him to convince me to stay. I couldn't let that_ stupid_ smirk and those_ stupid_ eyes get to stupid, _stupid_ me. Before I knew it, I was pulling my clothes out of drawers and throwing them into the largest duffel bag I could find. I had to distract myself from thinking about what just went down. I wouldn't cry over some guy. Not even now. Not even if that guy was Drew. I _wouldn't._

I could hear him pounding on the door, begging to come in to apologize to my face. I blasted some music from a stereo and continued packing. The music made me feel numb; it was some fist-pumping house music, something that would have been fun to sway my hips to had it not been for my unfaithful husband.

Husband. When we first got married, it was so weird to introduce him as that. I remember going out on multiple occasions and introducing him as my boyfriend, only to have him correct me and tease me about it for the rest of the night. Was it wrong that I was leaving for him being unfaithful? Should I stay and try to work things out? I shook my head. _No_. I knew myself well enough to be sure that I couldn't do that without making things worse. _He doesn't take confrontation well. I don't take evasiveness well. We'll do better with time apart._

My throat closed up at the thought. How long would _time_ take? I shut my eyes to stop the tears from flooding over and reached for my phone, dialing the first person I could think of.

"Dude, you realize it's past midnight, right?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked, knowing very well that he stayed up far past midnight, playing Black Ops and League of Legends.

"Can I stay at your place tonight? We got into a fight again." I cut to the chase with as calm of a voice as I could manage. It wasn't very often that I called Adam, and he knew that there was usually trouble when I did. He was the first one I went to whenever something was up between Drew and I – pretty weird, considering they're brothers and all – and the last one to ever push a subject. Despite his guyishness, he could be a serious girl when it came to comforting people. Not that I had a problem with that.

"Yeah, sure," he said casually, and in the background I could hear a chair grind against a hardwood floor. "Don't know if Mom will be too hot on the idea, but I think she's going out in a few."

I nodded in understanding, then realized he couldn't actually see me. "Fine with me, I can sneak in if it's really that much trouble. Climbing two stories up; it's like riding a bicycle."

We sat in silence for a while, neither of us the kind to talk over the phone often. I like face-to-face conversation, and so does he. I used to wonder what it might have been like if I hadn't outed him to the entire school; if we'd have been friends from the start if I was somehow nicer. I smirked at the thought as I continued packing. In the back of my mind, I chided to myself for having so many damn clothes.

It was a few minutes later that he actually spoke. I had thought he'd forgotten that I was on the other line after I heard a television in the background – _Jeopardy, _did they watch anything else?_ –_ but he must've just been coming up with something to say.

"You've been coming over a lot recently, you know. I'm guessing Drew hasn't been so hot in bed lately?"

I laughed. Like,_ really_ laughed. Despite the fact that he mentioned Drew, the comment caught me off-guard, not that it should've been unexpected in any way possible. But despite it being a joke, he was trying to get an idea of what happened while attempting to make me laugh. Adam always knew the exact way to turn something around; make it funny while still asking a serious question.

After I calmed down, I answered with a genuine smile on my face. "Totes, Torres. I'll tell you about it soon, 'kay? I'm almost done packing."

"Alright, Sis. Just make sure to bring me a midnight snack. I'm seriously starved," he said just before he hung up, leaving me with a smile. It stayed there for a while, the phone still in my hands, until I considered his words. _You've been coming over a lot lately._ It was true. Even before I had found out about the texts between Drew and his slutstress, we'd been having problems. Stupid little nothings were exchanged almost daily between the two of us, and the majority of what was said just put another brick in the wall between our marriage to one another. I'd been staying the night over at Casa de Torres for at least once a week in the last two months.

I never knew family bonding included being driven out of your own home only to show up at your in-laws' house, begging for a place to stay the night. But hey, at least they were nice about it.

Before I left – for good or temporarily, I wasn't even sure which I wanted then – I called Pizza Hut and had them deliver anything with stuffed crust to the Torres residence.

Adam had a lot to catch up on, and only half of it had to do with Drew's affair.

* * *

The interior of the place never ceased to amaze Katie.

The dimly lit interior gave her a warm, welcoming feeling, no matter how bad her mood had been before she walked in. The bamboo stalks that were used as some kind of wall decoration and the oversized rock in the corner of the waiting room gave the interior this _natural_ feeling that she had only felt when she went out hiking. The square lanterns placed around the outside gave it this uniquely sheik Asian atmosphere that she hadn't seen anywhere else, especially not back in Toronto.

Getting that loan to go to Stanford may have been a _huge_ mistake, but so far, it had been going well for her. All except for the occasional blind customer.

"No, sir. I am not Asian. Would you like a refill?"

The man in front of her was _really_ getting on her nerves. His glasses were way too far down his nose (they seriously looked like they were going to fall off at any second), but he still looked through them at her. It was as if he was looking down on her for some reason – maybe because she wasn't actually Asian? The guy had squinty eyes and tanned, wrinkly skin, with short hair as black as his suit and tie. He sat across from some really young-looking Japanese woman who was notably paler than him – too pale to be his daughter (or granddaughter, he _was _old enough), and seemed to be totally uncomfortable with her setting. She was wearing a short, pricey-looking dress and high pumps. She pitied girls like these and hated the men that pulled them around, as if they were dogs on a leash that needed to be fed expensive treats.

She had almost been like one of those girls, back in Vegas. The _disgusting_ way that these men saw women as – as sex objects; toys to be played with – made her want to spit in their faces.

"Are you _sure?_ It would be unnatural for the owners of such a high-class Asian restaurant to hire someone who..." he trailed off, probably realizing how prejudiced he sounded, and rephrased, "wasn't knowledgeable of the Japanese language."

She narrowed her eyes at him and spoke more Japanese in ten seconds than he probably had in his entire life. He looked Korean, after all – and totally unknowledgeable of the many, _many_ insults she had just thrown at him.

She refilled his drink, giving the woman across from him a sly smile (who totally understood exactly what she had said), before heading to the back to wait for another customer's order to be ready. It wasn't long before she was approached by a familiar face who looked very, _very_ amused.

"Katie, did I seriously just hear you call that geezer a ––"

"Yes. You did, Yuzu. You taught me well," Katie cut her off before she could translate her insults, bowing briefly as a sign of respect to the younger girl. Her smile grew even wider as the girl before her giggled, shook her head, and walked into the kitchen, out of sight.

Yuzuka Rei was like a Japanese version of Maya – she was like a second sister to Katie. The girl was abnormally short, hardly coming above Katie's shoulders, and her silky, jet-black hair extended the length of her back, stopping just above her waist. She was thin for how much food her mother gave her to eat, but healthy nonetheless. The girl was far beyond her years, too, in terms of wiseness and intelligence, but didn't look at all as if she was starting her senior year in high school. If it hadn't been for Yuzuka, Katie was sure she wouldn't have kept her job as a waitress at Zenkichi.

Yuzuka was also the daughter of the woman who owned the high-class, Japanese-style restaurant. When Katie was first hired, Yuzuka's mother refused to speak any language but Japanese.

At first, it had frustrated Katie to no end; the fact that she couldn't understand a word her boss was saying really got on her nerves. She was sure she had more anxiety attacks in her first month working at Zenkichi than she had during her last relapse. Eventually, though, she got a hold of speaking the language – she could nearly speak it as fluently as any other Japanese – which was a huge help, considering she had taken it as a language class at Stanford. The pressure the older woman put on her forced her to learn quickly and she remembered many a night staying over at her boss's house so Yuzuka could teach her more about the language. Yuzuka, then only in junior high, was so shy and down to earth, but the second she was given the task to teach someone, she'd become something totally different.

Katie smiled at the thought just as she stepped out of the kitchen to take an order to another group of customers. They were nice enough, and the memory of her first few months in California kept a loose smile on her face for the rest of her shift.

Later, she saw the tan-skinned man with glasses talking to her boss. He moved his hands passionately as he spoke, his face scrunched up and angry-looking. Katie didn't see the younger girl that he had been with earlier, and as she got closer, she began to realize why.

"... that waitress of yours insulted me, Hana. Mai left because of her," he said in an angry whisper, trying not to look too much like a fool while clearly making a scene. _Mai must be the girl he was with_, Katie noted as she cleaned one of the nearby tables before closing time. She couldn't hear everything he said, but he sounded pretty damn angry. _Good,_ she mused. _He deserves it._

"You should know better than to hire women like that. No respect for those with as much influence as me!" With that, he stormed out of the entrance, leaving her boss looking as if she was unsure whether to be amused or pissed off. Katie scoffed but said nothing to defend herself.

The second Hana turned to look Katie in the eyes, she focused all of her attention on the table in front of her.

"Katie," her boss called, and slowly, unsure of how the confrontation was going to go, Katie turned around, abandoning the spotless table. Despite how much Hana loved seeing people angry and flustered, she did _not_ like negative talk about Zenkichi. And if that guy really had as much influence as he said he did, she was going to get an _earful._

"You know we don't do that!" There it was. Katie cringed. Hearing Hana scold her in that broken English of hers was nearly as bad as getting fired. She'd take it over getting fired any day though; Zenkichi was the only possible way she'd ever be able to pay back her loans. "You know we don't say bad thing to customer! Especially in Japanese. That language not yours! If you insult, insult with English," she paused for a second, then frantically shook her head. "No, no. If you insult, do it off shift."

Yuzuka came out of the back to see what the commotion was, and, realizing a split second later that her mother was scolding Katie for what she had said to the man earlier, decided that she would do what she always does in this situation: get Katie out before her mother exploded.

"Okaa-san, don't worry about it. I'm sure Katie didn't know half of what she was saying," Yuzuka explained, grabbing a hold of Katie and leading her towards the entrance just as her mother was about to start up again. She called over her shoulder at her mother in Japanese just before they slipped outside._ "I'll meet you at home, okay? Katie will give me a ride." _

Katie didn't dare look back, in fear that she might stop in her tracks at the look Hana was probably giving her. The woman was tiny, but she packed a punch.

"You saved me back there, Yuzu. Thanks... again," Katie said as she held her keys out in the direction of her Ford Focus and unlocked it with the press of a button. They started towards her car slowly. "I can't believe I did that. Not like I regret it though. He totally deserved it, especially since he was dragging that girl around like a ––" she stopped before she could finish. As smart as Yuzuka was, she was totally blind to the real world. She didn't know that people like that actually existed, let alone ate in the very place her mother owned. Katie remembered being that naïve. She missed it.

"Like a what?" Yuzuka inquired, just like Katie knew she would. They reached the car and jumped in. Katie didn't start the engine at first; she just looked at the steering wheel with a tired look on her face, her mind going blank. After a while, she sighed and put her key in the ignition, backing out into the parking lot.

"I don't know. I just don't like rich douchebags."

With that, she drove off into the night, blasting Foo Fighters from her speakers the entire way.

It was an entire hour later that she had actually left to go back to apartment near the campus. Yuzuka had wanted to talk about her school life – how stupid the girls were and how they went on and on and _on_ about boys and clothes and other girls being sluts. Shy little Yuzuka was quite opinionated once you got to know her, and she didn't hold back. Some of the things the Japanese girl said made Katie wonder if she had been that bad back in high school. Every time a boy-obsessed girl was mentioned, Katie cringed. She hoped she hadn't been that bad; she hoped she wasn't some kind of materialistic, boy-crazed teen back in high school.

Nonetheless, she still wondered about her relationships as she drove. She only ever had two boyfriends, who both ended up dumping her for different girls; Drew for Bianca, Jake for some girl he met at Lowes. She wondered how they were doing now. Were they living happy lives? Were they going to spend the rest of their days together? For a brief moment, her chest ached. She felt hollow. Sometimes, she wondered what would've happened if she just held on a bit tighter to the relationships she had. Would she be married by now? Would she be with someone she loved?

Suddenly, hot tears began sliding down her cheeks. _Guys are so stupid_, she mused. She turned up her radio louder, hoping to drown out her sorrows with blaring rock music. It hardly did anything – in fact, she was sure that by the time she had reached the parking lot outside of her apartment, she had begun to sob.

She felt like an idiot as she stepped out of the car and tried to calm herself. All she got was hyperventilating and more tears. She leaned on the side of her Focus for a while, just staring up at the cloudy night sky as she thought about everything she'd been through. High school had not been kind to her especially. It was full of mistakes, mistakes, and more mistakes. She couldn't help thinking back to that woman – Mai, she recalled – who had been with that old man at Zenkichi. If she had gone down that path, if she had never gone to rehab, would she be doing that now? Would she be lending her body to old businessmen to get a few grams of Oxy? Her last relapse flashed before her eyes quickly. It was hell – the worst she had ever gotten into drugs and booze and _everything –_ and it was, sadly, the summer before she had started at Stanford. It was less about addiction and more about _this is what you get, Katie Matlin. This is what you get for making everything worse than it could've been_.

She shook her head, dispelling the nagging feelings in her chest as she walked up to her apartment building. Yuzuka had said something that Katie had always wanted to believe, something she always told Maya.

"_You don't need a guy to love you to be happy. You just need to love yourself being happy."_

"Because that got me so far," Katie mumbled, navigating through the halls as quietly as possible, trying to hide her swollen eyes and red nose. It was nearly midnight now, but there were still a few of her neighbors in the hallways. She wanted to call Maya and ask her to talk to her about these things, but it was far too late by the time she got to her room. It was around three in the morning for Maya, and she was pretty sure that her little sister had school in the morning. _I don't have classes tomorrow_, Katie reminded herself. Friday meant no school for her; just work, then having a nice drink at a local bar. She'd have a chance to talk to Maya after her shift at Zenkichi.

She stopped in front of her room – marked_ 09B – _unlocked, opened, shut, and relocked the door, before she raided her fridge. No school in the morning meant a date with a few gentlemanly Budweisers just before bed.

She took a few beers out from the fridge, went into her bedroom, and set them on her nightstand. Just before she lost herself in the alcohol, she opened up her laptop and checked her e-mail for any bids on sharing her apartment. Her old roommate had left a month ago and Katie was going to have to pull cash out of thin air if she didn't have someone to help her out soon. She sighed in dismay, seeing that her inbox was filled with nothing more than spam. She closed her laptop quickly and set it down on her desk.

"At least I won't be nagged for drinking," she said to herself as she turned on her stereo and blasted her favorite playlist. She began to sway to the music, cracking open one of the bottles and drowning out her sorrows. It wasn't long before she was passed out on her bed, cuddling an empty bottle to her chest.

* * *

**Oh, and I think it's safe to mention that in this universe Adam hasn't exactly died. I wrote this before his accident. I honestly didn't see it coming... Gonna miss him.**

**Reviews/favorites/whatever are appreciated, thanks for reading! I'll try updating by next week.**


	2. Issues

**Despite the lack of awesomeness that this ship deserves, I SHALL PREVAIL AND CONTINUE WRITING... for the time being, at least. I really wish Degrassi had a bigger fanbase centered aroundBianca and Katie; they have really interesting backgrounds and it's fun to explore them (even if it's through fics such as this). I hope to somewhat delve into their pasts in this story and take advantage of the lack of information on their backstories.  
**

**Also, thank you, HS, for your review. It was short and sweet; I'm glad I interested you. FIRST REVIEWER HIGH FIVE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi nor the characters. If I did, I'd totally make Kianca canon.**

**Oh, and if it wasn't obvious already, I'll be switching POVs between Bianca and a 3rd-person focus on Katie. I hope that will make it easier to identify who is actually speaking.**

* * *

"So, wait a second. This is really confusing. Tell me why it's so complicated?" Adam asked, handing me a giant bowl of popcorn as we sat down on the island in his kitchen. It was noon on a Friday – a whole night had gone by since I left Drew. I'd told his little brother about the affair and how it was going to be complicated, which led us to his question of why it was far more complex than just Drew being an unfaithful husband. Adam was in for a huge surprise.

We sat in silence for a while, him grabbing handfuls of popcorn out of the bowl and stuffing it into his mouth while I picked one out at a time, popped it into my mouth, and waited until it melted before I repeated the process.

"That's some quality popcorn," I joked.

I was stalling and we both knew it, but he didn't push. He knew I'd come out with it eventually. I wasn't sure how to tell him about what _else_ had happened in the last week – I hadn't even mentioned it to anyone at all. Besides Drew and his slutstress, someone else had dropped a huge bomb on me. Only I didn't know if that particular bomb was a good or bad thing.

"Okay, fine," I began, unable to stay silent any longer under his gaze. It was weird, how alike him and Drew were, when they were only half-related to one another. They both had this way of making me feel a certain way, as if they could somehow affect my emotions by doing hardly anything at all. Right then, Adam was looking at me with understanding and patience, ready to hear whatever I had to say when I was ready to spit it out. That, in turn, made me super impatient and antsy, and he fucking knew it. "There was this guy that came over the day I found out about Drew."

"Wait, B, are you saying that…?" Adam trailed off, giving me a suspicious look. It took me a while before it dawned on me that he thought I also slipped in my marriage. I slapped his arm and rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, Torres? Ew. The guy was like, fifty four. Anyways, this is how it went…"

_Three quick knocks on the door, frantic and hushed, brought me out of my trance. I had just read over the texts between Drew and Jessica – a girl we met at our engagement party – about five hundred times now. I couldn't believe it. _

_Had Drew really cheated?_

_I tried to shake that out of my head as I opened the door and greeted a strangely familiar man that looked like he was in his fifties. His hair was graying around his sideburns and his perfectly manicured goatee made me wonder if he had OCD. I stared at it as he spoke with a slight Spanish accent._

"_Hello, Mrs. Torres. I know we haven't met before, but I have some very important news to deliver. May I come in?"_

_I gave one last look at his perfect facial hair before meeting his bright blue eyes. They were somehow warm and familiar despite how closely they resembled the color of ice, but I couldn't understand where I had seen them before. "It's Bianca. Come in," I said as I stepped back and unblocked the entrance. I closed the door behind him and led him to the living room. For some reason, I was feeling really nervous._

_We sat across from each other. He watched my every move, from my averted eyes to my hands that wouldn't stop moving and my foot that wouldn't stop tapping. I could feel his eyes on me. It was weird and I was never good at entertaining unexpected guests, especially when they had 'important news.'_

_Speaking of. "What news do you have to deliver, Mr...?" I realized I hadn't even asked for his name until just then. If he wasn't scrutinizing my every move, I would have slapped my forehead to make up for the stupidity I had been displaying._

"_Cortés. Yes; I am knowledgeable of your..." he trailed off, gesturing with his hands as he tried to come up with a word. "_Situation_, if you will. I know you lived with your mother's sister. Juliana, si?"_

"_Once my mother was taken into custody, yeah," I corrected, wondering where he was going with this. _

"_My, I wonder how you ended up where you are now. It's a miracle that you brought yourself here from the upbringing you were given. I am proud of you, my dear."_

_My brows furrowed and I pursed my lips. _What the hell is he talking about?_ I thought as I crossed my legs. In my silence, I had somehow given him the notion that I wanted to hear more random comments._

"_Your mother should be proud too, si? You struggled out of that life and into a better one," he continued, stroking his chin._

"_Listen, can you cut to the chase? This is really confusing," I said, exasperated. I didn't want to talk about my life, especially with some stranger. I had just figured out that the person I had come to live for had found someone else to sleep around with._

"_It will only get more confusing, my dear. I don't want to rush into this."_

"_I'm sure I can figure things out all the same."_

_He gave me a wry, saddened smile and met my eyes, leaned forward and began to tell me something I never thought possible. "You see, your father was not the one you grew up with. Your mother was having an affair with the particular man who claimed to be your father, and they ran off together after you were born. Your real father, Victor, wanted your mother to do the right thing; get married and bring you up in a home where you would be loved and protected. He wanted that for you _and_ for her. He was aware of her drug addictions, but he loved her enough to help her through it if she was willing._

"_Still, she did not want that kind of life. She ran away with a man by the name of Robert, whom she claimed to be your father. But Victor knew that you were his daughter and he your father. He knew. He worked so hard to find you, my dear, and shed so many tears for you. He had wanted to do right by you but was never able because you were lost to him, thanks to your mother," he explained, looking pained and nostalgic at the same time. I could see that, though his eyes were looking right into mine, he wasn't actually seeing me. And maybe I looked the same way, because I was so fucking confused and angry and relieved that at least one of my parents actually cared for me. _

_But then I felt hurt, because there was no way in hell that _this_ would ever happen to _me.

_What kind of fucked up scam would involve telling a lost girl like me that the life she lived wasn't the one she should have lived? At any rate, it didn't matter. I was beyond pissed._

"_Get out," I demanded, almost quietly enough that I thought I might have to repeat myself. I opened my mouth to say it louder, to scream it at the top of my lungs, but he cut me off._

"_I know it is hard to believe, my dear. I know that you feel betrayed, si? But look, I have proof," he said quickly, pulling papers out of a briefcase I hadn't noticed earlier. He held one out to me and pointed at a specific point on the paper, his eyes never once leaving me. I skimmed over it and realized that it was my birth certificate. I had never seen it before – my mom always claimed that she had lost it moving from apartment to apartment when I was little. I never really thought much about it either. A birth certificate was just some dumb paper that listed facts that I already knew. No matter what, my father wasn't a part of my life – whether it was Robert or this unknown man, Victor._

_But as I looked down at the old print, everything he said, every fairy tale I never dared to dream, became true as I saw the name printed right where Mr. __Cortés' finger had indicated._

**Full Name of Father: Victor Gregorius Calderón.**

_It was impossible, but there it was, sitting right in front of me._

_The fact came crashing down on me as I scanned over the document. I had a father that wanted me. I had a father that thought he needed me and that I needed him. I felt so many emotions at once that it stopped my thought process. I could hardly breathe, let alone speak well._

"_Can I…" I trailed off, wanting so much to know this man and meet him and feel the love that he wanted to give me so many years ago. "Can I meet him?"_

_Mr. OCD's face fell as quickly as he'd pulled out my birth certificate._

"_No, my dear. He is dead."_

_Wow, that was news. I sucked in my breath, feeling the surging anger and hurt all over again, but time ten times as bad as I had felt it before. There were so many questions I wanted to ask in that moment – so many that I would probably never get an answer to. Why didn't he contact me before he died? Why is he dead? Why did this man come here to bear the news of the death of someone I never met? Why, why, why?_

_He must have seen the questions swimming there in my watery eyes, because he answered most of them in one single sentence. "He had been in a coma for the last ten years. Three months ago, he passed; God bless his soul," he said quietly. A moment of silence passed between us before he continued, and what he had to say left tears in my eyes and confusion in my heart._

"_And he left every single penny to you."_

"Wow, B. Just… wow."

I looked across the island at my brother-in-law, coming back to the present. It was still all overwhelming; still all too much to take in at once. Between the affair and the inheritance, I was at a loss of what to do. I wiped at my eyes, knowing they were probably watery, and took a deep breath to calm myself.

"What are you going to do?" Adam asked after a while. I pulled a business card from out of my back pocket and handed it to him. It belonged to Mr. Cortés and had every single possible way to contact him printed on it. He stared at it intently, as if it held all the answers.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I really didn't. I wasn't sure how much my real father owned, but Mr. Cortés had made it sound like a big deal. And there was something else, too. A ticket to Stanford University. Granted, not a full scholarship, but a ticket in.

I thought over that the most. If I accepted this inheritance, it meant moving to California – away from Drew, away from my problems, away from _everything._ Mr. Cortés ensured that my classes and credits from Wilfrid Laurier University would be transferred over within the week that I agreed. It was a start at a new life, but I wasn't sure I wanted it.

Stanford University was one of the top schools in North America, never mind the fact that my father had connections on the inside that probably meant special treatment for me. I mean, how else would he have been able to reserve a nearly impossible way to get into Stanford after _my_ record?

There were a few rules and regulations added on to the inheritance, though. I couldn't get it all until I finished college _at_ Stanford, I would have to get to know my father, and Mr. Cortés would visit me once a week to check up on me. Apparently, he was my father's right hand man, and was entrusted with giving me the inheritance. I thought over this for a while. It was a huge bargain; a new life for my old one.

Adam set the card down on the table with a loud slap, gathering my attention.

"Look, Bianca. I may be Drew's brother and I may care for him a lot, but I know he screws up from time to time," he began, shaking his head and shooting me a sympathetic look. He continued, "I know how much he's hurt you. And as biased as a position I'm in, I really think you should take the offer. You've never met your father. This is your chance to know him. It's not just a chance at a new life; it's a chance to know where you came from."

I considered his words. He had a point. I was given the opportunity to learn about my past – something beyond my mother's drug addiction and my aunt's first beau. It was my chance to start over. Should I take it? Should I leave it all behind; run away and forget about everyone that had changed me into the woman I was?

Adam seemed to know what was on my mind, because he took me in his arms and crushed me into him, whispering comforting words to me as I finally, _finally_ broke down and sobbed. For life, for hope, for changes and crushed dreams. I really hoped my eyes didn't bleed mascara all over his shirt.

"You won't be leaving anyone behind, B. At least not the ones you still want around."

I was going to Stanford. I was going to start over.

I gave a weak smile at his words, thinking about the changes that would be made in the next week, the old friends I'd leave, and the new friends I would come to know.

At least there was one familiar face I knew of who lived in Stanford. I still had to call him and tell him the news.

* * *

"Listen to me, Doug. If you touch me again, you're_ dead_."

"Fine, fine. I promise I won't guarantee my death sentence," he joked, handing Katie a few brand-new menus before he returned to the back of Zenkichi. Some asshole had thought it would be funny to write all over the menus they usually used, so backups were needed. And backups were, naturally, in the back, where Doug worked. He went to the same high school as Yuzuka, was in a band, and was quite awkward with girls his age. He happened to be one of the few people – outside of the times when he attempted to tickle her – that Katie enjoyed being around. That, unfortunately, meant she was stuck with his weird attempts at trying to flirt with her, which was where the tickling came in. He was harmless, sure, but it still pissed her off. Especially while she was on duty.

She plastered a smile on her face and greeted some newly-seated customers, taking their drink orders and handing them the shiny new menus. She notified them that Yuzuka would be taking over and left as soon as they were done asking questions about the dishes. It was the end of her shift and she _really_ wanted to hear Maya's voice. She didn't know why, but somehow, playing the role of big sister always made her feel somewhat better. She couldn't protect her little sister from jerks anymore, but she didn't really need to, either. Maya was old enough to understand guys and how things worked, and Katie was proud of her for that.

She grabbed a salad from the employees' fridge, found her satchel, and entered the stairwell that led to the roof, the only place that gave her solace besides an empty road in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't drive with the massive hangover she had, so she would settle with Zenkichi's quiet rooftop.

The weather was scheduled to be overcast, and Katie thanked the heavens for that. She never really liked a blisteringly hot day, and California was a lot different than Ontario. A typical autumn day in Stanford was like a warm summer afternoon in Toronto. That was her second least favorite thing about moving across the entire continent. She enjoyed dressing for cool weather.

Katie mused about the weather as she opened the door to the roof. A chilly wind knocked all of those thoughts away, and instantly she was calm. She breathed in slowly as the breeze drew her raven black locks out of the loose ponytail they'd been trapped in all day. She pulled the rest of her hair free, reveling in the first real sign of autumn she had seen in California that year, and sat at a table that Hana had set up explicitly for her.

She dialed Maya's number, set it on speaker, and placed it in front of her on the table as she began to dig in to her salad. It took three rings before Maya had picked up.

"Hey Katie," she greeted. Katie noticed she sounded somewhat breathless.

"Hey. Why do you sound like you ran a mile and a half? Trying out for track or something?" Katie knew that Maya hated sports – that wasn't the point of her question. It sounded less like she'd just finished exercising her legs and more like she'd been interrupted exercising her lips. Katie's eyes narrowed on her salad as she thought over how long it took for Maya to answer that time around. _Doesn't she usually answer after the first ring?_

When all she received from the other end was a nervous laugh, she knew her suspicions were correct. "Maya," Katie growled. "Spill."

"_Fine_. I'm with this guy, and, well, we've kind of been going out for a few weeks now." She noted how quiet her sister's voice was, like she was afraid that if she said it any louder, Katie would explode on her. A corner of her lip curved down as she thought about it. _Maya hasn't been serious about a guy since… well, since Cam, _Katie noted sadly. _Wow, two years and a few floozies later; hopefully she hasn't done anything stupid._

"Just be careful, Maya. Don't do anything I'd do," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. She could her Maya let out a breath she'd been holding in and chuckled at her sister's behavior. "So, is he cute?"

"Yeah, very."

"A gentleman?"

"Yep. Takes me out to romantic dates at The Dot, opens doors for me at school, and hey, he even makes sure his hands aren't sweaty before he holds mine. The perfect gentleman," Maya said in a voice that dripped sarcasm. Then, on a more serious note, "Have you found your knight in shining armor yet?"

Katie choked on her salad, thrown off-guard by the question. She suddenly felt embarrassed for the night before, despite her younger sister not knowing about it at all. It was dumb for her to get so worked up about relationships, she thought. After everything she had gone through, after everything she did to get into Stanford, the last thing that she wanted on her mind was _relationships_. All she wanted from her life was stability. It was something she had when she was younger, but, like her innocence, she lost it when she hit puberty.

"Katie? Something you're not telling me?" Maya asked over the phone, more jokingly than anything. Her older sister often spaced out during their conversations, especially since she left for college. What she didn't know was just how many answers that question held.

There were so many things that Katie had never told her family. She'd never bothered to tell them about the self-inflicted scars she hated wearing – that was what therapy was for – nor her relapse after graduation. She hadn't told them about the reason behind her break-up with Jake. She hadn't even told them how she got the loan to get into Stanford and how she felt like soccer was more of a job than the sport she once loved. And she definitely hadn't told _anyone_ about how crappy she felt living all alone in an apartment in the very country that she'd nearly become a prostitute in.

_God, sometimes I really hate that I moved here,_ she thought as she took another bite of her salad. "No, Maya. Nothing at all."

"Okay then." A pause. "Are you planning to come home for Christmas?"

Katie sighed and pursed her lips. "I don't know, Maya. I've been stuck between work and school and more work. It's pretty crazy right now." She wasn't really that busy with school – in fact, she was pretty sure that this was the easiest semester she'd ever had – but she wasn't sure she wanted to go home, as much as she missed it. She might never leave again.

"You didn't come home during Easter, Katie. You weren't even in school then," her sister said in a loud, accusatory tone. Katie cringed and prepared herself for her ears to get assaulted. "Do you _want _to come back home? Why are you avoiding us?"

"I'm not trying ––"

"It's not like anyone else is on your mind, Katie," Maya yelled, cutting her older sister off. "You shut everyone out, you know that? _Everyone _thinks you're relapsing again. I defend you, but even I don't believe myself anymore."

There was a huff on the other end, and then a loud crack, like Maya had thrown the phone. That was all Katie needed to hear before she cut the line. She could already feel her eyes watering over; her floodgates were crumbling down.

She violently wiped her eyes and folded her hands on the desk for a moment, trying to calm herself down. Count down from ten, think about happy things, ponder the future…

It didn't work.

"Fuck it."

She flipped the table over, spilling her salad all over the roof, grabbed her bag, and left as fast as she could.

She wouldn't be going back to the rooftop anytime soon.

* * *

**Oh man, Bianca comes face to face with her past, Matlin family tension, and Katie has some anger issues. What will happen next week? Stay tuned, folks!**

**I also understand that this chapter was pretty short and didn't have too much detail in it, so I'll try to update it before next week.**

**Leave a review or favorite this if you think it's worth your time. If not, feel free to leave a review anyways. xD**


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